Pending before the Court is petitioner [1] Michael Palmer's Updated Motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence. [377, 378]. After carefully reviewing the petitioner's updated filings, the United States' responses, relevant earlier filings from petitioner, and applicable law, the Court will GRANT petitioner's § 2255 motion in part and DENY it in part.

II. Background

A. Factual History

Mr. Palmer presided over a large-scale drug business which imported large amounts of cocaine from New York City and distributed it in Washington, D.C. in the late 1980s. At petitioner's sentencing hearing, Judge Harold Greene observed that Mr. Palmer's organization " created havoc and misery in their path" for several years, selling an " estimated 100 and 200 kilos of crack into the city," for which they earned a total of " perhaps as much as 5 to $10 million." Transcript of Sentencing at 2, United States v. Palmer (D.D.C., 89-cr-36, Oct. 18, 1989). In addition to supplying " thousands of men, women and children with crack," id. at 2, the organization possessed " at least 27 guns, including a machine gun, submachine guns and sawed-off shotguns" that it used to " terrorize

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and intimidate peaceful citizens as well as rival gangs." Id. at 9-10.

Mr. Palmer was arrested on January 12, 1989. See Petitioner's Updated Motion to Vacate [378] at 3 n. 2. In a 23-count indictment, the United States charged Mr. Palmer and seven codefendants with multiple narcotics and firearm offenses.

Following a jury trial, Mr. Palmer was convicted on 12 Counts. At sentencing, the Court remarked that " [i]n the 25 years ... that I have been on the bench, I have seldom, if ever, seen a case in which the evidence was as overwhelming as it was in this case ... and particularly [as to] the guilt of Mr. Palmer." Transcript of Sentencing, at 7. The Court sentenced Mr. Palmer as follows:

• Count 1 — Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute crack and powder cocaine between January 1987 and January 12, 1989 in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a) & 846.

• Sentence: life imprisonment.

• Count 2 — Being the organizer, supervisor or manager of a continuing criminal enterprise (CCE) that involved at least 1500 grams of cocaine base between January 1987 and January 12, 1989 in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848(b).

• Sentence: life imprisonment without parole (LWOP).

• Count 3 — Conspiracy to use or carry firearms during and in relation to drug trafficking crimes between January 1987 and January 12, 1989 in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 & 924(c).

• Sentence: 5 years.

• Count 4 — Use of juveniles in drug trafficking offenses between January 1987 and January 12, 1989 in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 845(b) & 18 U.S.C. § 2.

• Sentence: 20 years.

• Count 5 — Possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of crack cocaine on or about March 3, 1987 in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a) & 841(b)(1)(A)(iii) & 18 U.S.C. § 2.

• Sentence: 5 years.

• Count 6 — Using or carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime between November 16, 1987 and January 29, 1988 in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c) & 2.

• Sentence: 5 years.

• Count 7 — Using or carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime on or about December 1, 1987 in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c) & 2.

The Court ordered that sentences for Counts 1, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 12 run concurrently with the sentence imposed on Count 2 (LWOP), and that the sentences for Counts 6, 7, 11 and 16 (all § 924(c) violations)

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run consecutively to each other and to the sentence imposed on Count 2. In sum, Defendant was sentenced to LWOP plus twenty years. Mr. Palmer was also ordered to pay a special assessment fee of $1,050.

Mr. Palmer was acquitted on nine counts:

• Count 9 — Possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine on December 19, 1987.

• Count 10 — Using or carrying firearms on December 19, 1987 in relation to the drug trafficking offenses described in Counts 1 and 9.

Since his conviction was affirmed on appeal, Mr. Palmer has submitted many postconviction filings pursuant to § 2255 seeking to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence. This Section briefly reviews the history of those filings.

On September 15, 1995, Mr. Palmer filed a pro se Motion for New Trial [Based on] Newly Discovered Evidence, relying on Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and " USCA title 18." [47]. The Court denied the motion on December 5, 1995. [48]. Mr. Palmer appealed and the D.C. Circuit affirmed the denial, expressly construing Palmer's " Motion for New Trial" as a Motion to Vacate under § 2255. United States v. Palmer, 97 F.3d 593 (D.C.Cir.1996).

On April 22, 1996, the Federal Public Defender filed a Motion to Vacate Conviction Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, asserting a single issue: Mr. Palmer's convictions under § 924(c) must be vacated under Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137, 116 S.Ct. 501, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995). [59]. On July 8, 1996, Mr. Palmer moved pro se to dismiss this motion, arguing that it was filed without his knowledge or consent. [73]. He did so in order to avoid being barred from raising additional issues in his own motion to vacate, which could have been barred as " successive" after the FPD's motion. Later, with both motions still pending, Mr. Palmer apparently changed his mind about the FPD motion, and on April 8, 1997, Mr. Palmer filed pro se a Motion to Amend, seeking to adopt the FPD's Bailey claim. [88]. On the same date, Mr. Palmer also filed his own Motion to Vacate under § 2255, adding numerous issues to the single Bailey issue raised by counsel in its previous motion. [89].

On June 2, 1997, the Court granted Palmer's initial motion to dismiss FPD's

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Motion to Vacate based on Bailey. [104]. The Court also denied two additional claims Palmer had raised in his April 8 Motion to Vacate, and directed the government to respond to his remaining claims. Id. On June 12, 1997, the government filed a response, asserting that because the D.C. Circuit had construed Palmer's initial 1995 post-conviction motion as a Motion to Vacate under § 2255, the April 8, 1997 Motion was barred as a successive motion under the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). [109]. Palmer filed a Response on June 23, 1997 [111], a Supplemental Reply on July 22, 1997 [119], a Second Supplemental Reply on August 8, 1997, [123] and an additional Supplement and Amendment on October 29, 1998. [170]. The government filed another brief in opposition on March 24, 1999, reiterating that Palmer's Motion was barred as a successive motion, claiming that Palmer's claims were in any event procedurally barred since he had failed to raise them on direct appeal, and also attacking his claims on their merits. [174]. Palmer filed a Reply on August 24, 1999. [185].

On December 30, 1999, the district court dismissed Palmer's § 2255 claims as successive. [188]. Palmer appealed. See Brief for Appellant, United States v. Palmer, 2001 WL 36040241 (D.C.Cir. Brief filed June 18, 2001). On June 18, 2001, while his appeal was pending, Palmer filed an additional § 2255 motion in the district court. [198]. On July 19, 2002, the D.C. Circuit reversed the District Court's December 1999 dismissal of Palmer's claims as successive and remanded. See United States v. Palmer, 296 F.3d 1135 (D.C.Cir.2002).

On remand from the D.C. Circuit, the district court issued an order [216] on September 10, 2003 dismissing without prejudice defendant's pending § 2255 motions— those filed on April 8, 1997 [89], October 29, 1998 [170], June 18, 2001 [198]— and ordered him to file a consolidated motion that " incorporate[d] only those arguments set forth in" those motions, replies, and supplements he filed on April 8, 1997 [89], October 29, 1998 [170], August 24, 1999 [185], and June 18, 2001 [198].

Mr. Palmer then filed a new Motion to Vacate on June 24, 2004 which was in part pro se and in part through FPD as counsel. [230]. He subsequently filed a pro se motion to amend on November 19, 2004, [244], and counsel filed an additional Motion to Amend on November 21, 2005. [273]. The government filed its Response to the Amended Motion on December 5, 2005. [276].

On August 6, 2007, the Court granted petitioner's motion to hold his case in abeyance pending the Supreme Court's resolution of Kimbrough v. United States, 552 U.S. 85, 128 S.Ct. 558, 169 L.Ed.2d 481 (2007). [288]. After that case was decided, on March 26, 2008, the Court lifted the stay. [299] On June 18, 2008, Mr. Palmer filed his Reply to the government's opposition in part pro se and in part through counsel FPD. [303].

Nearly two years later, with no decision on his case, Mr. Palmer again moved the Court to stay the proceedings pending legislation and amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines. [328]. On April 7, 2010, the Court issued an ordered staying the case. [329]. Subsequently, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, and the Sentencing Guidelines were amended.

On August 25, 2011, the parties filed a Joint Status Report in which they agreed that " given the size of the underlying record, the number of issues pending before the Court, and the amount of time that has elapsed since briefing was completed in this case, the parties would like to submit updated briefing to assist the Court in resolving the issues." [334] at 3. The Court

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granted this request to file updated briefings on August 25, 2011. [335].

On March 20, 2012 Mr. Palmer filed an Updated Motion to Vacate under § 2255, pro se and through counsel, claiming his case shows an " extreme malfunction of the criminal justice system." Petitioner's Updated Motion to Vacate, [378], at 83. On April 25, 2012, the case was reassigned from Judge Urbina upon his retirement from the bench. The government filed a Response to the Updated Motion on August 21, 2012 [391] in which they expressly incorporated their previous response, filed December 5, 2005. [276].

Under the July 25 Order, Mr. Palmer had been given until September 15, 2012 [2] to file a Reply. See Order, July 25, 2012 [388]. On September 12, Mr. Palmer filed a Motion requesting additional time. [394].

Mr. Palmer's motion to yet again extend time will be DENIED and his 15 year old motion will be decided now, without further repetitive briefing.

C. Summary of Petitioner's Claims Now Pending

Petitioner's March 20, 2012 Updated Motion was intended to consolidate his arguments and therefore supersedes Petitioner's previous filings. See Joint Status Report, Aug. 25, 2011 [334]. Only the claims presented therein shall be considered pending before the Court, and all other arguments raised in previous motions and not repeated here shall be considered abandoned.

The Updated Motion advances the following twelve claims:

Claim 1: Ineffective Assistance of Counsel.

Through counsel, Petitioner claims his trial counsel, Mr. Mundy, was ineffective for actions in pre-trial, trial, and sentencing. See Petitioner's Updated Motion at 21 ff. Petitioner alleges his counsel was ineffective before trial because he (a) failed to investigate witnesses who could have provided an affirmative defense, especially Michael McGeachy, id. at 30; (b) did not adequately investigate the government's case, especially with respect to their allegations regarding his purchase of guns through Raymond Morant, id. at 26-30; (c) did not investigate government witnesses, especially Anthony Watson and Damien Scott to discover impeaching evidence, id. at 28-29; and (d) did not adequately confer with Petitioner about possible defense witnesses, theory of the case, or whether Petitioner would testify in his own defense, id. at 26. Petitioner alleges his counsel was ineffective during trial because he (e) did not call witnesses for the defense who could have rebutted the government's allegations, especially Michael McGeachy, id. at 32; (f) did not adequately confer with or share information with Petitioner, id. at 26-27; (g) did not adequately present Petitioner's defense— that he was an independent drug dealer, not a kingpin of a crack conspiracy, id. at 31; (h) did not point out legal deficiencies in the proof to the court or the jury, such as an apparent confusion between crack and powder cocaine in some of the allegations, id. at 30-31, 46-48; (i) prevented Petitioner from testifying in his own defense, id. at 33-35; (j) failed to request jury instructions that the final element of the CCE charge required showing that the conspiracy involved the requisite drug quantities (1500 grams of crack and 150,000 grams of powder cocaine) during the time that petitioner was manager, and may not use amounts that were involved in mere side deals not part of the conspiracy id. at 40-43; (k) failed to request jury instructions that

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would have explained to the jury how to analyze the case, including the proper method for determining whether petitioner actually committed a series of violations in concert with five other persons as required under the statute, id. at 38-39, 43-46. At sentencing, Petitioner alleges his counsel was deficient because he ( l ) failed to ask the sentencing court to make findings as to the scope of Petitioner's participation in the conspiracy, id. at 48-50; and (m) failed to object to the three-point adjustment under U.S. S.G. § 3A1.2, id. at 50-51.

In the pro se portion of the Updated Motion to Vacate, Petitioner adds that (n) counsel was ineffective because he failed argue that the government failed to prove that five codefendants were convicted in connection with the counts that the jury found constituting the series of violations underlying the CCE conviction; and ( o ) was affected by a conflict of interest because his fee was being paid by petitioner's wife, who was also facing potential charges, and who he may have felt an obligation to protect. Id. at 113.

Claim 2: Booker.

Through counsel, Petitioner challenges the constitutionality of the mandatory sentence imposed based on the federal sentencing guidelines, relying on United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). Petitioner's Updated Motion at 51-52. Petitioner also argues that the holding of Kimbrough v. United States, 552 U.S. 85, 128 S.Ct. 558, 169 L.Ed.2d 481 (2008), new sentencing guidelines, and recent statutory changes affecting the ratio between crack and powder cocaine sentencing should be applied in his case. Petitioner's ...

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